Buckle for straps



Filed March y1o, v191W INVENTOR CHARLES 5. GEE

Patented Aug. 8, 1939 Y UNITED STATES PATENT OFFiCE BUCKLE FOR STRAPS Charles B. Greenberg, New York, N. Y.

Application March 10,

2 Claims.

5` the strap holding thebuckle as well as to contion.

struct a new means of holding the spring bar carried by the buckle.

The buckle frames used to-day with wrist watch straps are provided with extending arms pierced with holes to carry spring bars. These holes extend completely through the arms so that the spring bars can be removed by inserting a pin or other sharp instrument to press back the trunnion of the spring bar and reduce the spring bars length and permit its shortened end to slide out the arm hole. The buckle frame so constructed and provided with such a spring bar is unsightly and can be dangerous to its user. In the iirst place, the hole for the spring bar can become a receptacle for dust, dirt and perspira- In the second place, the spring bar end may extend beyond the face of the arm and the projection may scratch or harm the user or his clothes. In the third place, the extending of the hole completely through the arm very materially reduces the amount oi metal in the arm at that point and weakens the buckle frame considerably. Therefore, because of these disadvantages, I desire to produce a buckle frame in which the holes to carry the spring bar only extend a short distance into the inner side of the buckle frame arm and never completely through the arm to the outer face, thus eliminating the chance of collecting contaminating material, eliminating all danger of the spring bars projecting beyond the buckle arms and reducing the amount of metal lost.

The Wrist watch that is worn today is expensive and beautiful and serves two purposes, that of ornamentation and time keeping. The strap and buckle that hold the watch also serve two purposes, that of aiding in the ornamentation and holding the watch in its proper position. Thus, to function properly, the strap and buckle should be an article of beauty; the strap smooth, straight and without marks of wear and strong to hold the watch firmly and not tear or break; and the buckle well and strongly shaped and of such a design as to aid and protect the strap against wear and becoming marked.

The buckles now produced do not stress this combination of strength, beauty and the protec- `tion of the strap part of the combination by the buckle. Hence, the present buckle is made with a large, dat back expanse of metal with little thickness and with frail side arms having little strength and without any thought of minimizing the pressure and the resultant wear that occurs when a sharp metal edge presses strongly against a leather or fiber fabric.

1937, Serial No. 130,108

Thus, no attempt has been made to cause the strap to rest uniformly and evenly against the buckle and for a low and uniform pressure to be exerted between the buckle and strap and so to construct the buckle that the strap rests straight and horizontal. As a result of this thoughtless, faulty construction, the present type of buckle is formed so that the edge between the under face and the inner side of the back of the buckle presses against the strap and causes a sharp bend in the strap adjacent the position of the buckle edge. This bend is unsightly and soon marks and disgures the strap permanently and eventually causes the strap to tear, or, if the strap is made of horizontal layers of material for the layers to separate.

In addition, the small, side arm construction of the buckle affords little protection for the strap edges at their place of severest wear, namely, adjacent the contact line of the inside edge of the buckle andthe strap. The wear, fraying and bending of the strap at these points tend, if the strap is made of horizontal layers of leather or iiber, to spread the layers, break the sewing threads, and to permit dust and perspiration to enter and rot the materials and destroy the strap.

Therefore, with these facts in mind, although I intend to construct my buckle with pleasing lines, yet I also intend to provide sufficient material at the proper positions to give adequate strength and to so shape and form the buckle that it provides protection for the sides of the strap and to shape and form the back of the buckle and direction its under side that the back does not allow the strap to rest against the edge between the back and inner side and become marked and bent, but provides a broad under face on the back against which the strap can rest and exert a low uniform pressure without any bending tendency.

In more detail, I intend to construct my buckle with as great an available flat surface as possible in the line of pressure so that the force exerted by the buckle against the strap is spread out and transmitted to the strap over as great an area as possible making the unit pressure on the strap a minimum.

In addition, I intend to construct a buckle in which the side parts or arms are vertically deep or thick and extend below the under face of the back member of the buckle and together act as a guideway to hold the strap in a straight direction and prevent any play in it.

Further and more specific details and objects of my invention will be shown and described in the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is a front elevational View partly broken away orV my buckle attached to a strap; Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of my buckle and strap; Fig. 3 is a vertical section through the center of my buckle parallel to its arms; and Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic sketch.

In the drawing, my buckle frame I is shown with the spring bar 2 carrying the tongue 3. The strap4is shown with one end part 5 forming a loop about the spring bar of the buckle and with the other end 6 extending through the buckle frame and loop 8 of the strap end 5 and being provided with the tongue holes l.

The buckle frame I is itself comprised of the back member 9 and side extending arms Ill. The arms I0 extend in permanent parallel relation to each other and with their inner faces opposing each other. Each arm on its inner face and near its forward extremity is provided with an opening, or hole Il, which extends a short; distance into, but not through the arm, and is suitable to carry a spring bar.

The front edge face of the back member is disposed between the arms IG, and the latter have face portions at their rearward ends disposed rearwardly of the front face of the back member in perpendicular relation to the lower face of the back member and to the inner faces of the arms.

The back 9 is shaped with the arms I0 at its ends and the tip of the tongue rests on the back member at its midpoint. The other end of the tongue is attached to the spring bar in any suitable manner such as being rolled about the spring bar. The tongue itself is bent at I2 and I3 and has the sloping part Ill so that together the bends and slopes direct the tip of the tongue to rest flatly and smoothly on the back member of the buckle.

The upper surface I'l of the back of the buckle is divided into a narrow part I8 adjacent, and in the same plane, as the arms forming a resting place for the tip of the tongue; and a second part I9 adjacent the narrow part I8, but positioned at an angle to the part I8, and the arms to slope downward and away from the buckle. However, the complete underside I5 of the back 9 slopes downwardly and forwardly to provide a fiat even resting surface for the back of the strap. Thus, when tension is applied to the strap, there is no sharp rotatory force exerted on the buckle tending to bend the strap in a sharp curve or crease it and there is no line of pressure at the lower inner edge of the buckle back member against the strap. All the pressure is exerted by the under face I5 of the broad back member of the buckle on the back of the strap and the strap is slightly depressed in a gentle curve.

The proper angle between the under face of the back and the arms to cause the even contact between the under surface of the back member and the strap is shown in Fig. 4 as the angle a. This angle is found to be 90 plus the angle whose cosine is the ratio of the distances :t over y. The distance a: is the vertical distance between the center of the spring bar holes and the upper face of the strap when it is resting normally and the distance y is the distance between the center of the spring bar holes and ther nearest edge of the under surface of the back member of the buckle. The distance :r actually should be one and one half times the thickness of the strap if the spring bar is held in a single loop of the strap end and the strap thickness is twice the thickness of the strap part forming the loop; and the distance y, the effective length of the arms of the buckle.

When the buckle and strap are constructed as shown using the ratio of distances given, the spring bar and its enclosing loop should rest lightly against the under face of the strap and the under side I5 of the back member of the buckle should rest lightly against the upper face of the strap and the strap should remain in a straight line, and when pressure is exerted on the strap, the spring bar and its loop should press upward slightly against the under face of the strap and the whole of the under face I5 of the back member will press broadly against the upper face of the strap, gently bending the whole strap downward slightly.

In order to direct the strap and keep it properly positioned in the buckle and to help protect its edges at the position where wear is most frequent, the buckle is provided with the side arms I0. 'Ihese arms are vertically deep or thick and extend from the back member of the buckle to a considerable distance below the under side I5 of the back member as shown at I6. As the back member is at an angle a to the arms, they slope downward in relation to the under surface of the back member and to the strap and extend along both side edges of the strap. Thus, the strap is protected and guided for most of its course in the buckle first by the part at I6 and then by the broad arms of the buckle itself.

As the details described and drawing shows very specifically certain improvements for a wrist watch buckle and since many modifications and changes may be made in the same invention without changing or departing from the spirit and scope of the ideas conveyed in the specific description and so I desire to cover all modifications, forms and embodiments of my ideas coming within the language and scope of any one or more of the appended claims.

Iclaim:

1. A buckle frame comprising a back member and side arms extending from the ends of the back member, said back member including a lower face and a front face, said arms being vertically materially thicker than the back member and projecting below the lower face thereof to provide a guideway for a strap adapted to be carried by the buckle, said arms having face portions at the rear ends thereof disposed rearwardly of the front face of the back member and in perpendicular relation to the lower face of the back member.

2. A rigid frame of a buckle comprising a back member and side arms extending from the ends of the back member in permanent parallel relation to each other, said back member including a lower face and a front face, said arms having opposing inner faces formed substantially near their forward extremities with openings extending partly through the arms, said openings being in alignment with each other, said arms being vertically materially thicker than the back member and projecting below the lower face thereof to provide a guideway for a strap adapted to be carried by the buckle, said arms having face portions at the rear ends thereof disposed rearwardly of the front face of the back member and in perpendicular relation to the lower face of the back member and to the inner faces of said arms.

CHARLES B. GREENBERG. 

